The average shopper often uses grocery carts in stores to transport items the shopper wishes to purchase. In the typical scenario, a shopper may place household items, produce, or meat products into the cart for conveying the items to a counter for purchase. The shopper may then remove the items from the cart for purchase. The cart may then be left at the store location for use by subsequent shoppers, who may also use the cart to transport items as described above.
In this way, a typical grocery cart may be used multiple times in a single day by a plurality of shoppers. In some instances, the items placed in the cart may leave an infectious residue, such as blood, mucus, urine, saliva, chemicals, pesticides or the like, on the cart's surface or in the cart's basket. The residue is often left on the cart during each use, thereby causing the residue to build up over time.
Occasionally, a shopper may have an illness which may be easily communicated to other shoppers. For example, a shopper may have the flu or common cold. The germs associated with the illness may be transferred from the shopper to the grocery cart during normal cart usage. As such, when a subsequent shopper uses the cart, the germs may be transferred to the subsequent shopper, thereby passing on the illness as well.
The germs and residue discussed above are called contaminants. Typically, a grocery cart may be in use for many years without the contaminants being removed. A study done by the University of Arizona Microbiology Department tested areas of grocery carts which are most often contacted by the shopper. The test involved testing swabs samples retrieved from the grocery cart for the presence of various kinds of organic matter. The results of the study suggested that a full fifty-four percent of the shopping carts contained harmful contaminants. As such, a need exists for a system and method for protecting the average shopper from the health danger associated with using grocery carts during their shopping experience.
One such system which is used is the Clean Shopper® baby/toddler grocery cart seat cover sold by Babe Ease, LLC of Pelham, N.H. The Clean Shopper cover is a cotton, quilted grocery cart cover that fits over the entire front portion of the grocery cart which is ordinarily used to seat an infant or small child. In this way, a toddler may be seated in the grocery cart without being exposed to the cart's contaminated surface.
One drawback to the Clean Shopper cover is that the cotton or quilted material from which it is constructed is porous. As such, the Clean Shopper cover is prone to having the contaminants transferred to the Clean Shopper cover from the cart's surface during each use, thereby contaminating the Clean Shopper cover. Another drawback is that the Clean Shopper cover does not cover the entire shopping cart. Thus, the contaminates which are present in the cart's basket, for example, may be transferred to the items transported on the basket's surface.
Other systems which are used to protect a shopper from contaminants focus on removal of the contaminants from the carts surface. Typical cart washing systems are like those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,707, entitled “Mobile Super Market Trolley Washer”, issued Aug. 6, 2002 to Morris, U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,867, entitled “Mobile Cart Washer”, issued Sep. 11, 1967 to Thornton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,263, entitled “Cleaning Apparatus”, issued Jul. 21, 1981 to Pulliam, U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,319 entitled “Self Contained High Pressure Hot Water Cleaning System for Grocery Carts”, issued Feb. 28, 1989 to Poitevin. These cart cleaning systems variously provide an enclosure fitted with cleaning nozzles which emit a washing fluid, sometimes at high pressure and high temperature. However, the systems are not effective for harmful contaminates which may remain on the surface of a cart after the cart is washed.
Consequently, a need exists for a system and method which protects the shopper from contaminates which may exist on any portion of a grocery cart's surface after the cart is subjected to washing.